Two pilots from Australia and Ireland began their maiden fly on Wednesday after their work at Hainan Airlines in South China Hainan Province started. This is the first time for a Chinese airline hiring foreign pilots.

The two pilots, who will be flying routes from Hainan's Sanya to Seoul of South Korea and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, have been trained at the Hainan Airlines for one month.

Company officials noted that introducing pilots from overseas is aimed at facing the incoming competition between Chinese airlines and their foreign counterparts after China's accession into the World Trade Organization. More foreign pilots and airline experts would be introduced, they said.

Hainan Airlines once hired some foreign airhostesses last year.

(People's Daily December 28, 2001)